Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Firefighters spent the early morning hours extinguishing a fire that swept through a pair of barns in the Salkum-Onalaska area.

Crews were called about 3:20 a.m. to the 800 block of Gore Road where the two side-by-side buildings were found fully engulfed in flames, according to Lewis County Fire District 8.

Chief Duran McDaniel said it was the glow that woke the owners, which was also visible from his own residence down the road.

By the time he arrived, the roof of one of the structures was gone and only its posts left standing, McDaniel said.

An unspecified number of cattle apparently left the barn on their own, although the owner was still searching for one calf this morning, according to McDaniel.

Lost in the fire were two tractors, a fifth-wheel trailer and lots of hay, McDaniel said.

“They did manage to get several other vehicles away from the buildings,” he said.

District 8 was assisted by firefighters from Onalaska, Mossyrock and Napavine, he said.

A fire investigator is looking into the cause.

A 1994 Pontiac Grand Am was extinguished after its unconscious driver was dragged to safety near Vader. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Patrol

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A motorist traveling alone on a dark, desolate highway in south Lewis County overnight was pulled unconscious from his wrecked and burning car by passersby who happened upon the scene.

The 56-year-old man from Vader was rushed by helicopter to a Seattle hospital with serious injuries.

Aid and troopers were called about 12:20 a.m. to the site, on state Route 506 about three miles west of Vader.

Cowlitz-Lewis Fire District 20 Chief Richard Underdahl said when crews arrived, the Pontiac Grand Am had slammed into a tree and was fully engulfed in flames.

“Bystanders had removed the driver from the vehicle and dragged him to safety,” Underdahl said.

Earl L. Crawford is listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center this morning.

According to responders, Crawford was westbound and traveling fast through a sweeping left curve before the collision. The Washington State Patrol reports speed was a factor.

The fire chief said he believed the patient didn’t sustain any burns but he had serious facial injuries.

The area is roughly a mile west of Brim Creek Road on the way to Ryderwood, according to Underdahl.

Underdahl said if not for the civilian rescuers, Crawford certainly would have perished.

“One trooper said, he is so lucky someone was on this road; during the time we were there, not one car drove up,” he said. “That road is not well traveled.”

The scene on state Route 506 west of Vader this morning. / Courtesy photo by Tiffany Pannkuk

Ronald Brady is directed to a seat in front of Judge James Lawler yesterday afternoon.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Ronald A. Brady was back in Lewis County briefly, in the midst of his prison term for shooting an unarmed suspected burglar outside his Onalaska house three years ago.

Brady lost his appeal of his second-degree manslaughter conviction and prosecutors had him transported to Chehalis yesterday in connection with collecting $96, the state’s cost of responding to his appeal.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh said Brady didn’t sign the paperwork or respond to any correspondence about it sent to him so she had him brought before a judge.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler asked Brady about his objection, when he indicated he didn’t want to sign anything without consulting an attorney.

“I’m not a lawyer and I have no idea if I’ve given up any rights unless I check,” Brady said.

The brief interaction took place at 4 p.m., when a handful of newly arrested individuals were making their first appearance before a judge. Defense attorney Brian Gerhart who was there to represent them, consulted briefly with Brady inside the courtroom ahead of time.

Brady indicated he has contacted another attorney about another issue on the appeal.

Judge Lawler said he noted the objection, and signed the order to amend the judgement and sentence.

The amount was added to his $1,000 fine and $1,147 in other fees already imposed.

The 60-year-old was convicted by a jury in the summer of 2011 in the death of 56-year-old Thomas McKenzie of Morton. He was given a sentence of five years and three months.

The case generated strong opinions on both sides. Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield didn’t arrest Brady, saying he thought the shooting was justified. When prosecutors subsequently filed charges, they argued the act was intentional and premeditated.

Brady appealed on several grounds, including contending the trial court erred when it refused to allow testimony to prove McKenzie and his wife were at his property to steal and didn’t allow the jury to consider a right to resist the commission of a felony.

The appeals court said the only crime being committed at the time he opened fire with a .22 rifle was criminal trespass.

The panel of three judges this past April upheld the conviction and this fall, the Washington Supreme Court denied his petition for review.

The Onalaska man is housed at Cedar Creek Corrections Center, a minimum security facility near Littlerock.

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For background, read “Breaking news: Onalaska man gets five years for shooting suspected burglar” from Wednesday July 6 2011, here